best book review online

The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

Knowing where to buy books can be challenging. So, here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you'll regret reading.

Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. The greater the diversity of opinions you can gather, the more confidence you can have that you'll enjoy the title.

Which book review and book rating sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.

1. Goodreads

Goodreads is arguably the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the book review site to visit.

There's an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore, and Goodreads itself publishes dozens of "best of" lists across a number of categories. You can do a book search by plot or subject , or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members.

You can participate in the community by adding your own rankings to books you've read and leaving reviews for other people to check out. Occasionally, there are even bonus events like question and answer sessions with authors.

2. LibraryThing

LibraryThing is the self-proclaimed largest book club in the world. It has more than 2.3 million members and is one of the best social networking platforms for book lovers .

With a free account, you can add up to 200 books to your library and share them with other users. But it's in the other areas where LibraryThing can claim to be one of the best book review sites.

Naturally, there are ratings, user reviews, and tags. But be sure to click on the Zeitgeist tab at the top of the page. It contains masses of information, including the top books by rating, by the number of reviews, by authors, and loads more.

3. Book Riot

Book Riot is a blog. It publishes listicles on dozens of different topics, many of which review the best books in a certain genre. To give you an idea, some recent articles include Keeping Hoping Alive: 11 Thrilling YA Survival Stories and The Best Historical Fiction Books You’ve Never Heard Of .

Of course, there's also plenty of non-reading list content. If you have a general affinity for literature, Book Riot is definitely worth adding to the list of websites you browse every day.

Bookish is a site that all members of book clubs should know about. It helps you prep for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes, and book games. There are even food and drink suggestions, as well as playlist recommendations.

But the site is more than just book club meetings. It also offers lots of editorial content. That comes in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations, reading challenges, and giveaways.

Be sure to look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews. Also, it goes without saying that the people behind Bookish are book lovers, too. To get a glimpse of what they’re reading, check out their Staff Reads articles.

5. Booklist

Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews.

You can see snippets of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe. An annual plan for this book review site costs $184.95 per year.

6. Fantasy Book Review

Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books.

It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time and a continually updated list of must-read books for each year. You can also search through the recommended books by sub-genres such as Sword and Sorcery, Parallel Worlds, and Epic Fantasy.

7. LoveReading

LoveReading is one of the most popular book review sites in the UK, but American audiences will find it to be equally useful.

The site is divided into fiction and non-fiction works. In each area, it publishes weekly staff picks, books of the month, debuts of the month, ebooks of the month, audiobooks of the month, and the nationwide bestsellers. Each book on every list has a full review that you can read for free.

Make sure you also check out their Highlights tab to get book reviews for selected titles of the month. In Collections , you'll also find themed reading lists such as World War One Literature and Green Reads .

Kirkus has been involved in producing book reviews since the 1930s. This book review site looks at the week's bestselling books, and provides lengthy critiques for each one.

As you'd expect, you'll also find dozens of "best of" lists and individual book reviews across many categories and genres.

And while you're on the site, make sure you click on the Kirkus Prize section. You can look at all the past winners and finalists, complete with the accompanying reviews of their books.

Although Reddit is a social media site, you can use it to get book reviews of famous books, or almost any other book for that matter! Reddit has a Subreddit, r/books, that is dedicated to book reviews and reading lists.

The subreddit has weekly scheduled threads about a particular topic or genre. Anyone can then chip in with their opinions about which books are recommendable. Several new threads are published every day, with people discussing their latest discovery with an accompanying book rating or review.

You'll also discover a weekly recommendation thread. Recent threads have included subjects such as Favorite Books About Climate Science , Literature of Indigenous Peoples , and Books Set in the Desert . There’s also a weekly What are you Reading? discussion and frequent AMAs.

For more social media-like platforms, check out these must-have apps for book lovers .

10. YouTube

YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online.

Nonetheless, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read. You’ll easily find book reviews of famous books here.

Some of the most notable book review YouTube channels include Better Than Food: Book Reviews , Little Book Owl , PolandBananasBooks , and Rincey Reads .

Amazon is probably one of your go-to site when you want to buy something. If you don’t mind used copies, it’s also one of the best websites to buy second-hand books .

Now, to get book reviews, just search and click on a title, then scroll down to see the ratings and what others who have bought the book are saying. It’s a quick way to have an overview of the book’s rating. If you spot the words Look Inside above the book cover, it means you get to preview the first few pages of the book, too!

Regardless of the praises or criticisms you have heard from other book review sites, reading a sample is the most direct way to help you gauge the content’s potential and see whether the author’s writing style suits your tastes.

12. StoryGraph

StoryGraph is another good book review site that's worth checking out. The book rating is determined by the site's large community of readers. Key in the title of a book you're interested in and click on it in StoryGraph's search results to have an overall view of its rating.

Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also indicates whether the tale is plot or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development, how lovable the characters generally are, and the diversity of the cast.

13. London Review of Books

The London Review of Books is a magazine that covers a range of subjects such as culture, literature, and philosophy. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the London Review of Books should suit you best.

You'll gain insight into the flow and themes of the story, as well as a more thorough picture of the events taking place in the book.

Read Book Reviews Before You Buy

The book review sites we've discussed will appeal to different types of readers. Some people will be more comfortable with the easy-to-interpret book rating systems; others will prefer extensive reviews written by experienced professionals.

Although it’s easy to be tempted by a gorgeous book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time. And check out recommendations, as well, to help you find what's worth reading.

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Independent Book Review

A Celebration of Indie Press and Self-Published Books

30+ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers

Here are 30+ top-notch book review sites for booksellers, librarians, readers, & writers. Learn more about 30 bookish companies helping spread the word about the best & latest books.

Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers

Book reviews are for all of us.

Readers need to know whether books with the best covers are worth the time they’re about to put into it. They find it helpful (and fun!) to check out reviews after reading the books, too, so they can see what other real-life humans had to say about it.

Authors & publishers need to get book reviews to build buzz and credibility for their product. Librarians & booksellers need to hear from trusted sources that the book they are about to buy for their collection has the capability to get picked up & to satisfy. 

Book review sites have transformed the book-recommending landscape.

We can write reviews on product pages, on social media apps, and some of us, for publications that have been around since before the internet. Book reviewing has changed. But maybe it also hasn’t.

What kind of book review sites are you looking for? Chances are, this list has you covered.

Here are 30+ book review sites to read, write, and bookmark. 

1. Independent Book Review

Does this logo look familiar? (Hint: You’re sitting on it).

IBR, the website you’re on RIGHT NOW, is all about indie books . There are so many books in the world right now, but if you feel like you keep seeing the same ones recommended over and over, start reading indie!

Independent presses & self-published authors are doing some incredible work right now. IBR reviews books, curates lists, does indie bookstore round-ups, and uses starred reviews & best-of-the-year lists to show which books are going to blow your mind.

2. Book Marks

Lit Hub rules. You already knew this.

But do you know about Book Marks? They’re a branch of the Lit Hub network, and they are an excellent way for booksellers and librarians to get shorter recaps from multiple sources and voices.

Their staff peruses book review sites and shares pull-quotes from them in book lists & more. By reading all of these sites, they can give the book a rating based on the average: “Rave, Positive, Mixed, or Pan.”

My favorite book-buying platform, Bookshop , uses Book Marks’ scale for their books’ ratings, and I love getting access to that.

3. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly has been around since 1872. By now, they’re a review churning machine. They cover so much of the book industry in so many different ways, reviewing nearly 9,000 books per year and providing publication announcements, agency announcements, industry job listings , bestseller lists, industry stats, a self-publishing partner, and more. 

4. Kirkus Reviews

Another one that’s been around since before the internet! 1933 to be exact. Kirkus is a widely recognized publication that book buyers & librarians follow carefully. I dare you to find a bookstore or library that doesn’t have multiple books with Kirkus Reviews plastered on their front and back covers.

5. Booklist

The American Library Association runs Booklist , a platform dedicated to helping libraries, educators, and booksellers choose books. They’ve got a magazine (since 1905!), book reviews, lists, awards, and one of my favorite bookish podcasts out there: Shelf Care .

6. Library Journal & School Library Journal

As you might be able to guess, Library Journal & School Library Journal focus on librarians too! They review a ton of books, and they write often about library-related news, collection management, technology, programs, and more. If you’re an author hoping to land your book in libraries, these are essential targets.

7. BookPage

You may have seen BookPage in your local library or bookstore. Some shops provide it for free so that patrons can look through it to find which books to buy in-store. Their website is clean and intriguing and always full of the most up-to-date releases and bestsellers.

Speaking of libraries! Have you seen our gifts for librarians ?

8. Foreword

Foreword is such an enthusiastic and dedicated champion of indie books, and they’ve been doing it since the 90s! I love how much attention university presses get here too. Their reviews are well-written & thorough, in both print & digital, and I always find something to speed-purchase once the Foreword Indie winners come out.

9. LoveReading

LoveReading is a top book-recommendation website in the UK. They’ve got starred reviews, lists, staff picks, a LitFest , eBooks, and they even donate 25% of the cover price of their books to schools of your choice. It’s reader-friendly and apparent how much they appreciate the wonder of books. 

10. Washington Independent Review of Books

What’s not to love about The Independent?

Back in 2011, a group of writers & editors were frustrated by newspapers dropping book review sections and decided to do something about it. The Washington Independent Review of Books is quite a lovely something! This nonprofit posts every day: from reviews to interviews to essays and podcasts. They host events too!

11. Book Riot

Try being a reader and not finding something you love on Book Riot. Book lists, podcasts, personalized recommendations, newsletters, book deals—this site is a haven.

It doesn’t post solo book reviews like other sites, but they do share mini-reviews in book lists and talk about reading in unique & passionate ways. The Book Riot Podcast is such a winner too! I love listening to Jeff & Rebecca laugh about the latest in books & reading.

12. Electric Lit

From novel excerpts to original short fiction & poetry, they might not only be a book review site,  but they do offer a lot in the world of book recommendations. Their Recommended Reading lit mag features unique staff picks and short, insightful book reviews.

13. The Millions

The writing in The Millions is something to behold. They are an artful source for all things book reviews & recommendations. They write stunning essays about books & reading and long reviews of new and old books. They’ve got some of my favorite Most Anticip ated lists too.

What are the biggest benefits of reading ? 🧐

14. Bookforum

Did you hear? Bookforum is back ! This book review magazine announced in December 2022 that they were closing, and my heart sank a little bit. This company means so much to the publishing industry and has for 20+ years, so when I saw (last week!) that they are returning, I did more than a few jumps for joy.

Welcome back, Bookforum! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got coming for us in book world coverage.

BOMB is in it for the art. Art, literature, film, music, theater, architecture, and dance. There are reviews and interviews, and the literature section is a real delight. The reviews are like poignant essays, and the author interviews are in-depth and feature some fascinating minds.

16. The Asian Review of Books

The only dedicated pan-Asian book review publication! It’s widely cited and features some of the best in Asian books and art, so booksellers and librarians have a source to trust to stock their collections with high-quality pan-Asian lit.

Have you seen our gifts for book lovers yet?

17. Chicago Review of Books

I love so much of what Chicago Review of Books does. They have a clean & sleek design that features some of the buzziest books as well as plenty of hidden gems from our favorite indie presses. I’m a particularly big fan of the spotlight they put on books in translation .

18. Rain Taxi

I love Rain Taxi ’s style! They champion unique books, publish their own fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and put a real emphasis on art for their magazine covers . It’s a beautiful print magazine to subscribe to, but they also share free online editions & digital archives. They even run the Rain Taxi Reading Series & Twin Cities Book Festival if you’re a real-lifer in Minnesota!

19. The Rumpus

Oh, The Rumpus ! This mostly volunteer-run online magazine publishes reviews, interviews, essays, fiction, and poetry. The reviews are in-depth and personal and heart-melting, and in addition to the site, they’ve got cool perks like the Poetry Book Club  and Letters in the Mail . The book club is where you get a pre-release book and meet the poet via Slack with other club members at the end of the month, and Letters in the Mail are actual postcards sent in the mail to you twice a month from your favorite authors.

20. Book Reporter

The selection in Book Reporter is carefully curated & enticing: hot new releases, forthcoming books, major presses, & indies. And there are plenty of unique ways to learn about them, like video interviews and monthly lists & picks. It launched in 1996 and is in The Book Report Network, which includes Reading Group Guides , a super useful resource for book clubs.

21. BookTrib .

BookTrib does such a great job of making their site browsable. The different ways you can enjoy what they offer—from book lists to giveaways to ebook deals —are difficult to keep your purchase finger off of.

23. Lit Reactor

Writers & readers—where bookish people meet! LitReactor’s book reviews are in the magazine portion of their website, and they’ve got plenty of them! Reviews, interviews, lists, introspectives, writing tips, and reading discussions. I’ve found some really unique content on Lit Reactor, like this ranking of literary parents . The website is a haven for writers especially, as there are workshops, writing blog posts, and even a forum to participate in.

24. Crime Fiction Lover

Dark alleys. Stray bullets. Hard-boiled detectives. Runaway thrills. If you’re a mystery-thriller reader, you’ve got to know about Crime Fiction Lover. They’ve got a passionate group of readers and writers talking about the best books in the genre and the ones that are soon to come out too.

25. SF Book Reviews

Speculative fiction fans unite! SF Book Reviews has been reviewing sci-fi and fantasy books since 1999, and while they’re a relatively small staff, they publish regularly, feature books of the month, and work wonders for their fantastical community.

26. Historical Novel Society

For all you historical fiction fans out there, the Historical Novel Society has reviewed more than 20,000 books in its twenty years. This one works like a membership for “writers and readers who love exploring the past.” You get a quarterly print magazine as a member, and if you’re a writer, you can join critique groups and ask for book reviews.

27. The Poetry Question

The Poetry Question writes about poetry published by indie presses and indie authors. They are a small passionate team dedicated to showing the world why indie presses continue to be a leading source for award-winning poetry.

28. Goodreads

Did you know that there are over 125 million members on Goodreads? When users review books, they can have conversations with fellow readers and follow reviewers too. If you’re looking for the biggest community, there’s no doubt Goodreads is the one. I like using sites like this because it helps you catalog books, one of my favorite ways to build a strong reading habit . 

29. The Storygraph

A big community of active users that’s Amazon free! Come review books, use half & quarter stars (!), and complete reading challenges. You got this.

29. Bookwyrm

Bookwyrm is small (around 5,000 members at the time of this writing), but doesn’t that sound kind of nice? There are active members and a genuine collective goal in talking books. Grow with it. I think you’ll be comfy here. There are other communities within the Bookwyrm umbrella too, like Bookrastinating .

30. Reedsy Discovery

I hold a special place in my heart for book review sites dedicated to helping writers! I got into this business as a book marketer, and I experienced first-hand, through hundreds of books, how hard it was to get exposure & validation for small press and self-published authors. 

Reedsy Discovery is a branch of Reedsy (the author resource company) that connects authors & reviewers so that people can read free books, sometimes receive tips for it, and authors can get more reviews in the process. Readers can choose from the latest books as well as the ones that are getting the best reviews.

31. Netgalley

Netgalley is a book review site for pre-released books. Reviewers sign up for a free account, request galleys from publishers and indie authors, and get to read them before they’re published so that they can leave reviews for the book, preferably on Amazon, Goodreads, or their blog. They also run Bookish , the editorial arm of Netgalley, which has book recommendations, interviews, and more.

32. Online Book Club

This review site combines a bunch of cool things! The 4-million member community gives me a lot of Goodreads vibes, especially with the Bookshelves app . But Online Book Club is a place for you to get eBook deals and talk about books in reviews and forums.

What are your favorite book review sites to follow? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for reading “ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers !” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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The 6 Best Book Review Sites

Are you looking for websites with the best book reviews online?

This post is for you.

By the end of it, you will know where to go when you need detailed and unbiased reviews of non-fiction books.

#5. Google Books

#4. goodreads, #3. derek sivers, #2. nat eliason, #1. the power moves, the new york times, book review websites, what to look for in site book reviews, best book review sites.

This list of best book review sites is not for all kinds of books.

It indeed focuses on non-fiction books. Specifically, for the types of books that will help you grow, learn, and move forward in life.

Albeit some novels might also fit in that category, most do not. So all the sites focusing on reviews of novels, romances, and generally reading for reading’s pleasure, are not included here.

You might have heard of this one :).

Amazon is the most popular book review site.

I make a stop on Amazon for almost every single book review I write . First of all, because I get affiliate links from Amazon :). And once I’m there, I also always visit the review section.

With time I have learned the ins and outs of the system, and this is my opinion on Amazon as a book review site:

• Quantity of books: there is a review for almost any book out there
• Quantity of reviews: plenty of reviews for each book
• Sorting: I love the option of sorting by stars or by highest voted
• No expert reviewers: anyone can review on Amazon. That’s a bigger issue for information products than for, say, a vacuum cleaner.
• Average rating = average of average folks : most people are average, and few are experts. Average people are less likely to be power-aware , logical, and critical thinkers. And they’re more likely to fall -and mistakenly provide high ratings- to useless naive self-help
• Swayed by fans/hater reviewers : at Amazon, you don’t even need to buy a book to review it.  I’d be surprised if lots of reviewers didn’t even read the book, but only vented their opinion or supported a friend/idol ( or trashed an enemy )
• Most fake reviews : since Amazon is mostly there to sell books, and not to review them, it also happens to be the most targeted by fake reviews. Including, of course, from the author themselves
• Smaller book reviews are completely unreliable : albeit all books have fake reviews, the less popular ones are the easiest to swarm with fake reviews
• Confirmation bias : people tend to buy what they like, so you get more fans and fewer critical reviews
• Not really a book review site : finally, Amazon reviews are not a content reviews section. Many conflate the book quality with the Amazon or seller service. You’ll often see 1-star reviews complaining about the book handling, shipping, or status. Those add up in the final rating.

I’ll give you an example that covers a lot of the cons of Amazon as a book review site: the book The Secret .

The Secret is a book that tells you not to work on your dreams and goals. Anyone in his right mind who wants to achieve his goals wouldn’t know what to do with such advice. But The Secret is a best seller and it has a sky-high rating.

People who buy The Secret are probably already the law of attraction aficionados, so their ratings are as credible as Trump supporters on Trump’s mental fitness (or Clinton supporters on her pay-per-play habits, let’s not be partisans).

A solid, all-season place to get book reviews from all sorts of readers. Just keep in mind the shortcomings (and the high number of fake reviews).

Google Books is smaller than Amazon, but I found the book reviews to be slightly better and more objective.

As an open, grassroots project, it has many of the same advantages and disadvantages as Amazon. Such as:

• Higher quality reviews compared to Amazon
• Easily deceived, especially for smaller books. If you read a book like Published you will realize that in an open system, lots (most?) of the reviews can be fabricated.

Goodreads is a social network of book reviews.

The idea is just awesome: you can write your own reviews, exchange opinions with friends, or simply just follow people you trust.

• You know the reviewers
• You can better target subject matter experts compared to Amazon/Google Books
• Facebook of books : I joined it with the idea of only following reviewers I liked, but I immediately got friend requests from pretty much all the Facebook friends who were also in there 🙂
• The best reviewers are not there : not all the top reviewers are on Goodreads because they have their own websites

I sent an email to Derek some time ago and I can attest that he really replies to all the emails he receives :). I love the honest reviews and I am adding several titles from his list to my reading list. Good stuff!

• Does not mince words
• He’s been a successful entrepreneur: he has the results to back his business book reviews
• No categories: summaries are all mixed on a single page, going from history to biographies to self-help

I love Nat’s articles and reviews.

Nat has a very critical mind, and he’s not afraid of calling things like they are.

I find that we often agree on many books -with some due exceptions-. I discovered Nat’s website recently and I will soon be going through some of his top book picks that I haven’t yet read.

The book reviews page on this website is one of the biggest available on the Internet.

In terms of quality, well, I might be biased here so I will not write much. You be the judge of that.

Not Good Book Review Sites

I didn’t find the following book review websites to be very good sources for prioritizing your reading list:

The New York Times reviews read more like a book themselves than book reviews. You might like that, or you might not. Personally, I don’t.

There are many book review websites. But they are more for people who want to sit with a cup of coffee, a blanket on their feet, and a cat nearby. Best if with a partner nearby and with a fire during winter.

These websites cater a lot to people who “read for reading’s sake”.

That doesn’t fit my goals and my audience’s goals. We read to improve, develop and move ahead in life -of course, most of us also love reading too, but it’s not the only motivator-.

General book review websites include:

• Omnivoracious.
• Bookreporter.
• You can find quality men and quality women for good, loyal , and stable partners
• No for high achievers: reading for reading’s sake is not for highly driven people

How to Use Book Review Websites

As I explain how to efficiently absorb knowledge , I often read reviews before I start reading the book.

It helps me prepare my mind for the information I am about to absorb, which makes my reading and my knowledge acquisition all the more efficient.

I also read reviews after I read the book, especially so when I’m not sure I fully got the message.

On my after-the-book review reading, I look for the following:

• Criticism of the book (some imperfection I missed?)
• Opposing information (what are other theories in the field?)
• Similar books (which I might get)
• Is the book still valid (or are there new current thoughts and/or studies that disprove the book?)

To make your reading efficient, you should find book review websites that give you clear and concise information. I especially look for reviews that highlight:

• Main concepts in the books
• Main drawbacks
• Criticism (from the reviewer or from the rest of the literature)
• And finally: does the reviewer recommend the book?

That’s why for me it’s so crucial to trust the reviewer. I need to trust the reviewer almost, and sometimes even more so, than the author of the book.

That’s why I’m not the biggest fan of Amazon reviews.

And that’s why I don’t like book reviews from big newspapers -like The New York Times-. They all tend to be too flowery, long, and unstructured. You finish reading the book review and you’re not even sure: did the reviewer liked the book or not. Does he recommend it or not?

I’m not looking for a literary piece. I’m looking for information that makes my knowledge acquisition as efficient as possible.

Also, read:

• Best book summaries websites
• Book reviews

About The Author

Lucio Buffalmano

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What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Featuring new titles by leigh bardugo, alexandra fuller, anne lamott, and more.

Leigh Bardugo’s The Familiar , Alexandra Fuller’s Fi , and Anne Lamott’s Somehow all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s home for book reviews.

1. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (Flatiron)

“Bardugo brilliantly explores the wavy line between the supernatural and the divine … When Bardugo chooses to venture further into the darkness, it’s that much more devastating because of how much fun the reader has been having. In fact, she is a master of anticlimax: She builds apprehension for huge events that do not come to pass, then blindsides the reader with something totally unexpected instead … A thrilling addition to her canon about oppression and liberation, and anyone interested in this historical period and the themes she’s exploring will find it engrossing.”

–Charlie Jane Anders ( The Washington Post )

2. The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas (Simon & Schuster)

6 Rave • 1 Positive

“For Thomas, nothing seems to be off the table. She shifts between erotic thrills, gothic drama, postmodern deconstruction and kitchen-sink realism. Through her bold storytelling, The Sleepwalkers becomes a work of peculiar, gonzo genius … Thomas takes a glamorous late-capitalist setting, with rosé and catamarans, and shreds, twists and warps it into a story that is surprising, humane and political to its bones.”

–Flynn Berry ( The New York Times Book Review )

3. The Limits by Nell Freudenberger (Knopf)

2 Rave • 5 Positive Read an excerpt from The Limits here

“Freudenberger is fluent in every realm, social conundrum, and crime against the earth she brings into focus, keenly attuned to science and emotion, tradition and high-tech, race and gender, greed and conscience, irony and tragedy. Each character’s challenges are significant on scales intimate and global and their wrestling with secrets, anger, and fear grows increasingly suspenseful in this lambent, deeply sympathetic, and thought-provoking novel.”

–Donna Seaman ( Booklist )

1. Fi: A Memoir of My Son by Alexandra Fuller (Grove Press)

“Fuller leaves nothing under the table, under the rug or under wraps … The last thing you expect to do when you read a book about a child dying is to laugh … The wit in this memoir is soul-piercing … Fuller is sagacious and perspicacious. She is a sublime writer. In the hands of another memoirist, the story of Fi might be unbearably sad, but this book is a mesmeric celebration of a boy who died too soon, a mother’s love and her resilience. It will help others surviving loss—surviving life.”

–David Sheff ( The New York Times Book Review )

=2. The Wives: A Memoir by Simone Gorrindo (Gallery/Scout Press)

3 Rave • 2 Positive

“Gorrindo’s memoir is a gorgeously rendered peek behind the curtain of military life, as she recounts reckoning with her husband’s participation in violence—and examining why his job exists at all.”

–Courtney Eathorne ( Booklist )

=2. Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott (Riverhead)

3 Rave • 2 Positive Read an essay by Anne Lamott here

“In her trademark godly yet snarky way, she extracts every life lesson from her latest new experience with the deft zeal of a chef reducing flour and fat to roux … At times, Somehow made me huffy about—by which I mean envious of—Lamott’s gift for writing powerfully, deeply, often radically, while appealing to, well, everyone … No matter one’s external descriptors, Lamott speaks to the human in all of us, challenging us to bear her beam of love, and our own.”

–Meredith Maran ( The Washington Post )

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Karlene Cameron Books

5 best online book review sites for indie authors.

One of the best ways to gain exposure for your new book is through a book review site. But there are so many different online resources available that it can be overwhelming to select which site is the best option for your masterpiece. I know. I think I’ve combed through them all.

But don’t despair! Today, I’ll show you the top five book review sites for authors. We’ll explore how much each of these sites will cost you to use and what sets them apart from the competition. Hopefully, you’ll come away with a better understanding of where you can start.

Reader’s Favorite

Reader’s Favorite is the ideal option for new and experienced authors. They have over ten years of experience serving traditional authors, indie authors, including romance novel writers and bestsellers. They offer a wide variety of packages for authors, including a free option. However, this free review does take up to three months, so you are far better off opting for their $59 express package or the $129 package for three express reviews.

Readers’ Favorite will post reviews to both Goodreads and Barnes & Noble , but unfortunately not Amazon . Your reviews will also be placed on their site, and all of their reviews are created by real-life readers. As an author, you’ll also get the opportunity to rate your reader, just as they have rated your novel. The site prides itself on only posting four and five-star reviews. If you do happen to receive a poor review from the reader, they’ll provide you with private and constructive criticism instead, as their priority is to help authors. While the company’s primary goal is to review new and self-published authors, they’ve also worked on reviews for well-known authors in the past.

Reader Views

Established in 2005, Reader Views is a great option for independent authors. They offer a variety of services to help capture the attention of potential readers. One of their best services for independent authors includes a review consultation service for free, where you can submit your book or e-book for review consideration. The basic package starts at $119 for one review, and there are also many add-ons available to suit different budgets and marketing needs . By choosing one of their publicity campaigns, you’ll be able to spread the word about your book on blogs and social media.

The company also offers in-house editing, book translations, eBook conversion, and manuscript critiques, so they are a good one-stop-shop for authors. For reviews for Amazon, Goodreads, or Barnes & Noble, ask about their book giveaway service on top of your book review. A unique feature of this service is the fact that you are given your reviewer’s email address to contact them after to thank them for their review .

The US Review of Books

By using The US Review of Books , you’ll be able to connect with a professional book reviewer and have your review placed in front of the company’s over 18,000 newsletter subscribers. They cater to both fiction and nonfiction books, so it’s ideal for your romance novel, biography, or fantasy book. The site ranks in the top 25 for book reviews on Google, so you are in safe hands getting your novel out into the world with this site. They use a consistent team of staff to ensure the reviews are focused and adhere to a particular style.

Thanks to their subscription base and social media following, your book will receive good online exposure with this site. At the same time, the site also doesn’t use advertising, so there will be no distractions from your book coverage. The site is fully focused on reviews, with their basic review package starting at $75, although you can upgrade to express delivery for $129. They don’t sell editing or manuscript review services on the site, as they believe this would be a conflict of interest with the review services they offer.

From Publishers Weekly comes BookLife , which is one of the few sites to offer free reviews for indie authors. If you work with a larger publisher, you will need to submit your book through their main portal, but this is ideal for anyone writing a new romance novel or their first piece of work. However, to receive a free review on the site, your book will have to meet their standards and criteria. Your basic review will be about 300 words long and can be used on your book’s cover or on your Amazon or Goodreads page. While the review service is free, the site offers plenty of other paid services to run their site. If you do need social media posts or publicity on top of a review, you’ll also be able to find this on here. For no additional charge, you can also opt to have your review published in the BookLife section of Publishers Weekly each month, which will give you even greater exposure to attract publishers and readers.

Pacific Book Review

While this is the most expensive option on our list today, with their basic package starting at $300, you’ll find that Pacific Book Review can offer you wide reach online. Your review will be posted to Barnes & Noble, Google Books , and a couple of other online sites. Their professional reviewers offer top quality reviews, and know what they are looking for in an action-adventure book, biography, or romance novel.

Your review will be distributed to news sites, search engines and posted on all the major book retail websites. The company is a member of the National Book Critics Circle, so you know you are in good hands with your purchase here. Once your review is complete, you’ll receive a PDF with the review and link to the site, which you can then use however you wish for marketing purposes.

By choosing any of these five online book review sites, you’ll help get your book out into the world and attract further potential readers. All of these sites offer professional reviews that are of a high quality, and by opting for some of the add-on services they offer, you can also benefit from social media and online marketing to further spread the word about your writing.

What online book review sites have you used? Drop me a line below…I’d love to check them out.

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kcameron9767

5 responses to “5 Best Online Book Review Sites for Indie Authors”

Thanks for the information, Karlene. But you didn’t mention Kirkus Reviews. This is more expensive (if you do the paid one for Indie writers) but it’s a widely recognized review and I’ve had two Kirkus Reviews, using their quotes on my book covers. I would love to see an updated blog on this topic.

That’s a great idea, Maggie! Thanks for the suggestion. I haven’t used Kirkus…yet! But it’s on my radar.

One of my 3 Kirkus reviews contained reference to something that was not in my book (The Kovalenko Secret). I felt compelled to write to them to explain the problem. Although they adjusted the review appropriately, I was left with a feeling of not having gotten a competent reviewer. For what they charge, that should not have happened.

Reedsy (Discovery). I received a review from them for my first memoir, The Gosling Bride and I was quite happy with it and their review dashboard in general. It was only $50 and the reviewer posted their review to Amazon. Like an reviewer authors need to be aware that you can get anything from a 2 star to a 5 star rating, so make sure your book is ready!

That’s fabulous, Eileen. I haven’t heard of them — I’ll definitely check them out. Thanks for sharing!

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Get your book reviewed by a professioanl reviewer for $50!

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Submit your book to Reedsy Discovery for $50.

Best Contemporary Fiction Book Review Blogs in 2024

Showing 147 blogs that match your search.

Social Book Shelves

http://www.socialbookshelves.com

My name's Dane Cobain, and I'm the guy behind SocialBookshelves.com. SocialBookshelves.com was founded in April 2013 and officially launched on May 1st of the same year as a book blog with a difference ‰ÛÒ each review is constrained by the number of pages contained in the book.

Blogger : Dane Cobain

Genres : Contemporary Fiction

🌐 Domain authority: 40

👀 Average monthly visits: 7,100 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Email

⭐️ Accepts indie books? No

Read and Rated

https://readandrated.com/

Read and Rated, where all good books come to be reviewed! Find me on twitter too @ReadandRated

Blogger : Lisa Hall

🌐 Domain authority: 17

👀 Average monthly visits: 6,000 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Website contact form

⭐️ Accepts indie books? Yes

The Bibliofile

https://the-bibliofile.com

The Bibliofile is a book blog. I mostly review new releases, bestsellers, literary fiction, mysteries, and popular non-fiction. You can also get updates on bookish news and find other book-related content.

Blogger : Jennifer

🌐 Domain authority: 30

👀 Average monthly visits: 7,000 p/mo

Shelf Awareness

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/

To have your book considered for review, please send two copies of a galley at least three months in advance of publication, and a finished copy when the book is finished.The book must be available through national distribution, i.e. Ingram and/or Baker & Taylor. Currently, we do not review ebooks or print-on-demand titles. We send galleys out for review consideration, but do not guarantee reviews.

Blogger : Stefanie & Si̢n

🌐 Domain authority: 63

👀 Average monthly visits: 47,500 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Mail

Writing Follies

https://writingfollies.wordpress.com

Hi! This is Nicole and Isis, and we will be running this awesome book blog. We're both aspiring authors, which means that we do a lot of reading and writing, so we hope you enjoy our posts! Here we will discuss some of our favorite books.

Blogger : Nicole & Isis

🌐 Domain authority: 10

👀 Average monthly visits: 5,000 p/mo

The Bookish Elf

https://www.bookishelf.com/

The Bookish Elf is a site you can rely on for book reviews, author interviews, book recommendations, and all things books.

Blogger : Mitul Patel

👀 Average monthly visits: 30,000 p/mo

Fresh Fiction

http://freshfiction.com/

Many of the books for FreshFiction's reviews are unsolicited. We can't guarantee that a particular book will be reviewed (since we receive many more books than we can review), but review / advance copies are always welcome.

Blogger : The FF Team

🌐 Domain authority: 53

👀 Average monthly visits: 71,000 p/mo

http://bookangel.co.uk/

Bookangel started as a London bookclub's private site to swap book recs and highlight free books. It opened to other users a few years back after realising that there weren't many sites that focus on UK readers.

Blogger : Book Angel Team

🌐 Domain authority: 29

👀 Average monthly visits: 3,000 p/mo

Compulsive Readers

https://www.compulsivereaders.com/

My name is Tracy and I’m a bookaholic. It’s been 35 minutes since I last bought a book and despite having over 450 books on my kindle, 200 books on my bookshelf I can’t stop buying more books. I receive loads of books to read from the publishers and Netgalley – but will only be recommending the books that I think are brilliant. Some you will agree with me about, and others you will hate – and that’s what makes reading so wonderful. Enjoy!

Blogger : Tracy

👀 Average monthly visits: 2,000 p/mo

Midwest Book Review

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/index.html

Established in 1976, the Midwest Book Review is an organization committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing.ÊWe post our reviews on the Internet with a number of thematically appropriate web sites, databases, and online discussion groups such as alt.books.reviews. Print books are reviewed free of charge. However, there is a charge of a $50 "Reader Fee" for reviewing ebooks, galleys, pre-publication manuscripts, uncorrected proofs, ARCS and .pdf files

Blogger : James A. Cox

🌐 Domain authority: 48

The Book Nanny

https://thebooknanny.com/

The Book Nanny gives readers a look inside their book without spoilers. We give information about the violence, adult content and language a book contains so readers can find books that fit their media standards.

Blogger : Emily Campbell

🌐 Domain authority: 3

https://www.chapter92.com/

Writer, book blogger, tea drinker, late night snacker. Professional cryer who spends way too much time online, eating books for breakfast. Basically, your bookish best bud.

Blogger : Marilù Iacona

🌐 Domain authority: 7

👀 Average monthly visits: 1,500 p/mo

Read Yourself Happy

https://readyourselfhappy.net/

Welcome to Read Yourself Happy! My name is Penny, and on my site you’ll find book reviews, mental health articles, and more!

Blogger : Penny

🌐 Domain authority: 16

👀 Average monthly visits: 500 p/mo

Bookish Brews

https://bookishbrews.com/

A book blog that is dedicated to celebrating and bringing attention to diverse books and authors. Bookish Brews is helping people diversify their reading one book at a time.

Blogger : Amanda Khong

🌐 Domain authority: 11

Anu Reviews

http://www.anureviews.com/

Anu Reviews is open to receiving review copies of the books from publishers and authors. I use images from the publisher or author websites. In case someone had objection to use of images from their websites, please let me know, I will click my own picture of the book cover which may not be as good as yours.

Blogger : Anu

🌐 Domain authority: 32

So you want to find a book blog?

If you’re a voracious reader, you might think of a book blog as an oasis in the middle of the desert: a place on the Internet that brims with talk about books, books, and more books.

Well, good news — we built this directory of the 200 of the best book blogs  to satiate your thirst. Take a walk around, use the filters to narrow down your search to blogs in your preferred genre, and feel free to bookmark this page and come back, as we do update it regularly with more of the best book blogs out there. 

If you’re an aspiring author, you might see a book blog more as a book review blog: a place where you can get your yet-to-be published book reviewed. In that case, you’ll be glad to know that most of the book blogs in our directory are open to review requests and accept indie books! We expressly designed this page (and our book marketing platform, Reedsy Discovery ) to be useful to indie book authors who need book reviews. If you’re wondering how to approach a book blog for a review request, please read on. 

You’ve found a book blog. Now what? 

Let’s say that you’re an author, and you’ve found a couple of book blogs that would be perfect fits to review your book. What now? Here are some tips as you go about getting your book reviews:

• Be sure to read the review policy. First, check that the book blog you’re querying is open to review requests. If that’s the fortunate case, carefully read the blog’s review policy and make sure that you follow the directions to a T.  
• Individualize your pitches. Book bloggers will be able to immediately tell apart the bulk pitches, which simply come across as thoughtless and indifferent. If you didn’t take the time to craft a good pitch, why should the blogger take the time to read your book? Personalize each pitch to up your chances of getting a response. 
• Format your book in a professional manner before sending it out. Ensure that your manuscript isn’t presented sloppily. If the book blogger asks for a digital ARC, you might want to check out apps such as Instafreebie or Bookfunnel. 
• Create a spreadsheet to track your progress. Wading through so many book blogs can be troublesome — not to mention trying to remember which ones you’ve already contacted. To save yourself the time and trouble, use a simple Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your progress (and results). 

Looking to learn even more about the process? Awesome 👍 For a detailed guide, check out this post that’s all about getting book reviews . 

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Market Realist

Have a Love for Books? Here are 10 Platforms That Pay Readers for Reviews and Narration

Posted: December 7, 2023 | Last updated: December 7, 2023

Have a love for books? What if you get paid for reading?

Getting paid just for reading sounds more like fantasy fiction right out of a book lover's imagination. But it turns out that some platforms are willing to pay you to share your thoughts on the kind of literature that you love to explore across genres. Since thousands of new books are released daily, some websites pay people to read, review, and even record books, offering opportunities to earn up to $300 per hour. Keep reading to find out more!

Upwork is an online freelancer marketplace that offers book reviewing opportunities alongside other writing gigs. Getting started only requires people to create a freelancer account, showcase their skills and experience, and upload a portfolio. They then need to browse available jobs, submit proposals for the ones they fancy, and if a client likes the pitch, they send a contract. Upwork not only pays for book reviews but can also help people bag other freelancing jobs.

2. Kirkus Review

Kirkus Review, a platform for book reviews, gives experienced reviewers the chance to assess English and Spanish titles through their Kirkus Indie program. If you wish to apply, be prepared to submit a resume and samples of your work. This platform isn't for beginners. Impressive writing samples and a remarkable publication history can improve your chances.

3. Booklist

Affiliated with the American Library Association, Booklist pays $15 for each review that enables schools and public libraries to select books. They prefer concise "haiku-style" reviews between 150 to 175 words. Each review should include a plot synopsis, suggest the book's target audience, and recommend similar titles. Currently, Booklist isn't accepting applications on their website. However, you can keep an eye out for future opportunities and contribute to this literary community.

4. BookBrowse

If you're passionate about reading and reviewing books, BookBrowse allows users to get started once they express literary preferences, share insights, and provide a brief bio. Reviewers typically handle one book per month, exploring adult fiction, non-fiction, and young adult titles. Moreover, writing and sharing book reviews can help you build an online presence, especially if you post your reviews on platforms like a blog, Goodreads, or social media.

If you love audiobooks and have a captivating voice, you can earn money on ACX, which connects professional narrators with authors in need of a voice for their books. You can earn through an hourly rate or a 50% share of book royalties, and once you've recorded 25 audiobooks, you can apply to become an Audible Approved Producer. Besides that, the Bounty Referral Program lets you earn by referring Audible users to your recordings. To start, visit the ACX website, create a profile, and upload voice samples by reading a snippet from an author's manuscript.

6. Findaway Voices

Another platform that pays people for recording audiobooks is Findaway Voices, where you will receive a custom URL for easy discoverability after creating a narrator profile. Upload samples of your work, along with an audio intro, bio, cover image, and avatar. Similar to ACX, Findaway Voices provides a comprehensive guide and tools to support your success as a narrator.

7. The US Review of Books

For aspiring authors looking for ways to sharpen their writing skills, becoming a reviewer for The US Review of Books is a suitable path. They publish monthly book reviews in their newsletter, helping authors promote their latest works. The site accepts reviews between 250 and 300 words, including plot synopsis and audience insights. They encourage objective writing without first-person language, allowing reviewers to compare books, share opinions, or discuss the author's background. You can apply by sending your resume, samples, and references, and if accepted, you'll have two to three weeks to submit your reviews based on the titles assigned to you.

8. Reedsy Discovery

At Reedsy Discovery, you won't find a fixed payment for your book reviews, but readers can show appreciation by tipping $1 to $5. While it might not make you rich, it's an excellent platform to refine your reviewing skills, especially if you aim for larger sites like Kirkus Reviews. Applying is simple, you just need to provide your email address and name, along with reading habits, preferred genres, and a brief bio. Including links to your best reviews, whether in written or video form, can increase your chances of making more money.

Voices opens the door for voiceover enthusiasts to turn their passion into a rewarding experience With over 5,000 monthly job postings, this marketplace connects artists with projects. Once the project is completed, the payment is deposited into PayPal accounts. Specifically for audiobook projects, one can earn between $250 and $375 per task. Opting for a Premium membership can increase the chances of landing high-paying jobs, making Voices an ideal platform for aspiring voiceover artists to monetize their skills.

10. Online Book Club

Online Book Club offers a unique opportunity for book enthusiasts to earn between $5 and $60 per review. You get to choose titles from a provided list, receive the books for free, and pen down your thoughts. While the first review may not be paid in cash, subsequent reviews can fetch you a decent income. What's great is that you don't need to submit an application or have prior review samples, making it an ideal platform for beginners.

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Don't break the bank with your reading habit: Here's where to buy cheap books near you

Have you caught the reading bug from BookTok ? Looking to check out a viral series ? Getting into reading is all fun and games until you realize new releases can run you about $30 a hardcover. 

But you don’t have to ask for a raise to finance your reading habits – there are many online platforms dedicated to making reading an accessible and even free experience. Libraries are a go-to, but there are also options for those who want to own a physical copy to build up their bookshelf.

Where to buy cheap books

The art of low-cost book buying lies in the unexpected gems. You might find a book you’ve been dying to read with a cover that's a little worse for wear or a cheap read you’ve never heard of. Searching for inexpensive books can be a great way to expand your reading palate.

Get into the habit of checking out sale sections as well. Many bookstores have a discount table or sell used books for only a few dollars. 

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

Buy cheap books online

While you can find cheap, used books on Amazon or eBay, you may also have luck at e-commerce platforms that specialize in low-cost books. Check out one of these sites to make your next read a steal:

• ThriftBooks
• Better World Books
• Half Price Books
• Awesome Books
• Book Outlet

Swap books with another reader

Why not kill two birds with one stone? You can donate a book and get a new one with a trusty book swap, either through friends or at an online retailer like Paperback Swap or Book Mooch .

Check for local sales

Some libraries raise funds by selling second-hand books. Find the closest public library to you using this U.S. map created with data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and ask your librarian if they have a "for sale" table.

Independent bookstores may let you trade your old books for store credit that you can use to snag a new one. Thrift stores and consignment shops also typically sell used books.

Another place to scour is Facebook Marketplace. You never know who is doing a closet cleanout and wants to get rid of their old books for a few dollars. 

How to read books for free

You don’t have to shell out any money to become well-read – a library card is all you need to unlock a world of literature. Start by visiting your local library . You typically only need proof of address to apply for a library card.

Little Free Library’s take-a-book, leave-a-book model is also a great place for finding new free books. These outdoor pop-up hutches are all over the country. Check out Little Free Library’s map of registered libraries across the U.S. to find one near you.

You can also try e-reading. The Libby app lets readers borrow e-books, digital audiobooks and magazines with your library card.

Audiobooks are another low-cost way to access books and popular platforms like Audible , Libro.fm , B&N Audiobooks and Audiobooks.com let you listen at your leisure with a monthly subscription fee. Spotify recently unveiled a new audiobook program as well where eligible Spotify premium subscribers can enjoy 15 hours of monthly listening from over 200,000 audiobooks.

Where to donate books

You can donate books at many of the same locations where you purchase or borrow them, like libraries, donation centers, bookstores and community centers. If you’re doing some spring cleaning, check out USA TODAY’s comprehensive guide to donating and selling your books .

Keep up with the reading trends: How to find book recommendations on BookTok

Just Curious for more? We've got you covered.

USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "How to play Solitaire" to "What is my love language?" to "Do dogs smile?" – we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer for you. 

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April 18, 2024

Current Issue

Where Next for Mexico?

April 7, 2024

Victoria Razo/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Attendees holding placards of Claudia Sheinbaum at her presidential campaign launch, Mexico City, March 1, 2024

In June, when Mexico holds its fifth federal election since the end of one-party rule, Claudia Sheinbaum is almost certain to be elected president. An environmental scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, Sheinbaum is affiliated with the incumbent Movement for National Regeneration, or Morena. Most polls give her a  double-digit advantage  over the main challenger, Xóchitl Gálvez, a businesswoman and former senator nominated by a center-right coalition of opposition parties, Strength and Heart for Mexico. The third candidate is Jorge Álvarez Máynez, a congressman running under the auspices of a smaller organization, the Citizens’ Movement, or MC. 

Sheinbaum is likely to win for a simple reason: she has the blessing of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO. Surveys, which are typically very politicized, show that many Mexicans are disappointed in López Obrador’s administration; he has achieved modest reductions in poverty but failed to deliver on his promise of social transformation. But their disillusionment does not extend to the man himself. The president is poised to finish the single six-year term allowed by the Mexican Constitution with high approval ratings; the figures range from 50 to 70 percent.

His endorsement amounts to a coronation. A vote of confidence from such a beloved figure is enough to convince many, if not most, citizens. Not to leave matters to chance, Morena has openly,  and at times illegally , thrown the weight of the state apparatus behind Sheinbaum’s campaign—a widespread practice across the political spectrum that López Obrador denounced during his two unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 2006 and 2012. 

If López Obrador’s popularity is a boon to Sheinbaum during her campaign, it might well pose challenges once she’s in office. For Morena is less a disciplined political party than a collection of contradictions held together by personal loyalty to AMLO. President Sheinbaum would have to chart her own course without alienating her predecessor—a potentially difficult balancing act.

Elections in Mexico used to be administered by the Secretariat of the Interior—which is to say, by the Party. This system was put in place in the 1920s by the Sonoran generals who seized power at the end the Revolution. Taking inspiration from Soviet Russia and Mussolini’s Italy, rather than the United States, they formed the organization that would later come to be known as the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. This “total party” was to “incorporate” the various “sectors” of Mexican society: trade unions, the peasantry, the army, students, landowners, industrialists, and so on. Party intellectuals maintained that by including different sectors, the PRI had forged a distinctively Mexican form of democracy, one that rendered free elections unnecessary.

The principle underlying this corporatist structure was that power would be transferred not through violent means—as had been the case since the collapse of Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorship in 1910—but through “institutional” means. Presidents would be limited to a single, six-year term—the so-called  sexenio— with no possibility of reelection. In the decades that followed,  presidents chose their successors , some handing power to a different faction within the PRI, but none ceding the party’s authority. 

This model rested on an unspoken agreement between the PRI and the growing middle classes: do not make a fuss about democracy and in return we will raise your standards of living. The pact held as economic growth lasted through the 1940s and 1950s, but it slowly came apart in the downturn that followed. In 1968, large student protests, organized in part by communists, panicked the regime, which responded by killing scores of civilians in Mexico City. 

Around the same time, the Catholic capitalists of Northern Mexico, who had always resented the PRI’s redistributive policies and anti-clericalism, organized to field conservative candidates. They did so first in local and later in federal elections, under the banner of the National Action Party, or PAN. In the southern sierras, impoverished campesinos, tired of state neglect, launched a guerrilla war against the government. In time the creation of an independent electoral authority became a rallying cry for the PAN as well as for the Unified Socialist Party of Mexico, or PSUM, whose members  had an important part  in designing the institutions that later brought down the regime. 

As pressure mounted, the PRI was forced to seat a handful of PSUM members in the legislature and recognize the victories of a few panista gubernatorial candidates. The party’s grip on power grew more tenuous amid the economic crises that followed the collapse of oil prices in the 1980s and the start of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. Eventually it agreed to the opposition’s demands and ceded control of elections to an independent authority: the ancestor of the present-day National Electoral Institute, or INE. The free elections of 2000, won by the PAN’s Vicente Fox, inaugurated what came to be known as the “Democratic Transition”—a period of political liberalization that began in hope and ended in disappointment. The governments of these two decades proved incapable of addressing existing problems (notably poverty) and efficient at creating new ones (notably violence). 

Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

Mexican President Felipe Calderon reviewing the troops at a military parade, Mexico City, 2008

Perhaps the gravest error was made by Fox’s successor, fellow panista Felipe Calderón, who deployed the army on an offensive against drug cartels, disrupting the tense equilibrium that had incentivized criminal organizations to keep a low profile. The mafias, which until then had competed as commodity exporters in the shadow economy, became factions in a full-on civil war. Insecurity was worsened by neoliberal policies that further eroded the welfare state, a process that had begun with NAFTA. Corruption, too, proceeded as before. During her husband’s presidential term, which lasted from 2012 to 2018, the wife of the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto thought it advisable to purchase a strikingly affordable mansion from a construction firm that also vied for government contracts. As a result of all this, many grew disillusioned with the new political class and turned to a man who promised to do things differently. 

Born in 1953 to middle-class second-generation Spanish immigrants who had settled in Tabasco, an oil-rich state on the southern end of the Gulf of México, López Obrador began his political career in the old PRI. Having risen through the ranks to become the president of the party’s branch in his home region, by the 1980s he was growing disillusioned with its drift toward neoliberalism. In 1988, along with many future members of Morena, he left the PRI to join the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD. In 2000 he was elected mayor of Mexico City. He presided over a moderate social-democratic administration that established welfare measures, such as a pension for elderly people, which made him popular enough to position himself as the PRD’s presumptive candidate in the 2006 presidential election. 

The business elite and the politicians of the PAN and the PRI watched AMLO’s rise with concern. As the election approached, the federal legislature, where those two parties held a majority, summoned him to answer frivolous impeachment charges—related to the expropriation of a tract of land to lay out an access road for a hospital—that could have barred him from running for president. López Obrador survived the trial but never forgot the affront. His resentment only deepened when the election authority declared that he had lost the election to Calderón by less than a percentage point. Convinced he’d been a victim of fraud—a belief shared by many citizens—AMLO denounced the results. He competed again in the 2012 election but lost to Peña Nieto by a large margin. 

Later that year, López Obrador resigned from the PRD and founded his own party, Morena. He cast himself as an outsider, even though he had spent most of his career within the political establishment. Running for president in 2018, he campaigned on sending the army, which Calderón had unleashed on the cartels, back to the barracks; bringing the welfare policies that had made him popular in Mexico City to the rest of the country; and above all rooting out the elite that had conspired against him in 2006. His campaign succeeded in harnessing the widespread discontent with Peña Nieto, who was mired in corruption scandals.

AMLO claimed that he would vastly increase social spending without raising taxes: recovering the sums lost to corruption would offset the expense. This last idea neatly encapsulates the paradoxes of his politics. López Obrador calls himself a leftist and never misses an opportunity to lambast his adversaries as “conservatives” and “neoliberals,” but some of his positions are closer to Ronald Reagan’s than to Salvador Allende’s. The consequences of this tension would become bitterly clear after he won the 2018 election with 53 percent of the vote, beating his closest rival by nearly thirty points. 

Ratifying a new version of NAFTA, detaining thousands of refugees from Haiti, Venezuela, and Central America before they could claim asylum in the US, framing addiction as a moral problem rather than a public health issue—the litany of President López Obrador’s right-wing policies is tiresome to recite. Perhaps his worst betrayal was cozying up to the military. AMLO went as far as stymying the investigation into the 2014 case of forty-three students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School, a teacher’s college in rural Guerrero, who, a team of international experts has concluded, had been “disappeared” by criminal groups with the army’s support (at this point it’s all but certain that the students were killed). If anything the president has expanded the armed forces’ role in public life. Besides fighting the cartels, they now run a growing portfolio of state-owned businesses, ranging from civilian airports to a tourist railway. They are also building several luxury resorts, one to be located at the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, which the United Nation has recognized as a protected Natural World Heritage Site. It produces 13 percent of the Earth’s oxygen.

Here one can see another aspect in which AMLO is closer to the right than to the left: his indifference to the threat of climate change. In his daily press conferences, which last as long as three hours, he often lambasts activists, many of them Indigenous, who oppose his infrastructure projects in Calakmul and other fragile ecosystems as “ traitors to the fatherland .” The accusation is doubly galling when one considers that in 2022 alone, over thirty-one environmentalists were killed in Mexico— the third highest number in the world.

His denialism is grounded in the belief that state-led development is the ultimate answer to the ills of a nation. The way to lift Mexico out of poverty is to build infrastructure: railways, pipelines, and apparently, resorts. From this perspective, environmental concerns are at best trivial and at worst betrayals of the national interest. After all, the First World developed its economy by destroying Mother Nature. The problem is that the climate crisis knows no borders and will hurt developing nations worst of all. 

Nowhere is AMLO’s irresponsible attitude to climate change more visible than in one of his beloved megaprojects: a new oil refinery in his native Tabasco. Having so far cost close to 19 billion dollars —nearly two and a half times its original budget—it has yet to refine a single barrel, even though the president held an  inauguration ceremony  two years ago. The project, which the government claims will finally begin operations this month, is supposed to serve as a lifeline for Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, the once-mighty state oil company whose  106 billion dollar debt , the largest of any oil firm in the world, recently led Moody’s to downgrade its credit rating to B3—what most investors consider “junk.”

But the new refinery will not save the Mexican oil industry. The first thing I learned during my stint as an oil reporter for Reuters is that the Gulf Coast has a surfeit of refineries, making the market extremely competitive. There is no reason why refining oil at the new plant would be cheaper than importing gasoline from Texas, which perhaps explains why in 2021 the López Obrador administration  purchased a refinery in that state . 

Susana Gonzalez/AFP/Getty Images

Andrés Manuel López Obrador pointing at charts that supposedly show irregularities in the presidential election process, Mexico City, 2006

The project is also supposed to cement Mexico’s “ energy sovereignty ”: its ability to meet most of its gasoline and electricity needs through domestic production. That might seem like a noble goal. But given what we know about climate change, the state would be irrational to invest so much money in a new refinery that will only break even if Mexicans burn gasoline for decades to come.

These are not AMLO’s problems to solve. Soon to be out of office, he plans to retire to his hacienda and leave public life. But he would not take well to his successor dismantling the oil-centered agenda of state development that he sees as an essential part of his legacy. This is one of many dilemmas that Claudia Sheinbaum would inherit as president. 

Sheinbaum, born in Mexico City in 1962 to an upper-middle class family of academics, was exposed to leftist ideas from a young age: a video shared by her campaign shows her, at ten, singing the classics of  nueva canción , a folk-revival genre associated with the Cuban and Nicaraguan Revolutions. Though the international press highlights her Jewish roots—she is the granddaughter of refugees from Bulgaria and Lithuania—she herself downplays her heritage. At least once she has appeared in public wearing dresses embroidered with the Virgin of Guadalupe. At the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Sheinbaum joined a student group that became the youth wing of the PRD. In 2000, when López Obrador was elected mayor of Mexico City on that party’s ticket, he named her as his Secretary of the Environment; when he broke with the PRD, she joined Morena. In 2015, under the new party’s auspices, she was elected head of the Mexico City borough of Tlalpan, and in 2018 mayor of Mexico City.

The results of Sheinbaum’s mayorship were mixed. Taking a cue from the social policies that made AMLO popular, she established “universal scholarships” that paid public school students a cash stipend. But she also oversaw a catastrophic response to the Covid pandemic; Mexico City had one of the highest excess mortality rates of any metropolis in the world. (At one point the municipality sent those infected with the virus a package with doses of ivermectin, a pseudoscientific treatment for the disease.) The low point of her administration came in May 2021, when an elevated section of the subway collapsed, killing twenty-seven people. 

Along the way, Sheinbaum earned a reputation for intransigence even within her own party. Many in Morena believe that the internal selection process that led to her nomination was rigged and resent her status as dauphine. Some factions—notably the one led by Clara Brugada, now running to take over her old mayorship—are increasingly hostile to her. She’s not a gifted retail politician: a video that shows her impatiently dismissing sympathizers who wanted to speak with her circulated widely on social media. After her party’s lackluster performance in the 2021 local elections in Mexico City, she began speaking slowly and adopted an incongruous tabasqueño accent that struck many as a desperate attempt to sound like López Obrador. 

Sheinbaum has tried to follow her mentor’s lead in other ways as well. The slogan she adopted during Morena’s internal selection process was  Continuidad con cambio —continuity with change. The contradictions implicit in that tagline are acute. While AMLO’s near-fanatical embrace of state development has led him to bet all his chips on fossil fuels, Sheinbaum dedicated much of her academic career to studying ways to minimize greenhouse emissions without sacrificing the welfare of impoverished Mexicans. One suspects she is well aware that her mentor is anachronistic in his fixation on oil as the “ blood of the nation ”—a commonplace of Mexican leftism ever since Lázaro Cárdenas, the PRI’s lone socialist president, expropriated foreign oil interests in the 1930s. The problem is that the personal loyalty that AMLO commands from both the party and the electorate would make it difficult for her to correct course.

This dilemma has offered an opening to Sheinbaum’s main opponent, Xochitl Gálvez, who grew up in an Indigenous Otomí working-class family in Hidalgo. She studied robotic engineering, founded several businesses, and then entered entered public life in 2000, when the PAN’s Fox, anxious to fill his pro-business government with names untainted by the PRI, tapped her to lead the agency charged with Indigenous affairs. She later served as head of the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo. In 2018 she was elected to the Senate on the ticket of the coalition formed by the PRI, the PAN, and the PRD—the same that nominated her to the presidency this year. 

Many observers believe the opposition chose Gálvez over the blue-eyed panista Santiago Creel because AMLO has succeeded in shifting the country’s political center to the left: a woman with humble roots made for a more attractive alternative to Sheinbaum. That the candidate is a pro-choice Catholic given to folksy outbursts of expletives also helps. At her best Gálvez is ecumenical and charming. But she’s also prone to putting her foot in her mouth: her attempts to please both feminists and the PAN’s conservative wing by equivocating on abortion have alienated both camps. 

Perhaps sensing an opportunity to attract progressive voters who would otherwise be turned off by her longtime affiliation with the PAN, Gálvez has made it clear that  her energy policy would be radically different  from Sheinbaum’s. She plans to diversify Pemex’s operations to include plants powered by cleaner sources of energy. This proposal sounds great on paper. But remaking Pemex into a clean-energy company would require convincing investors to lend vast amounts of money to a decrepit firm.

Besides, Gálvez would have a difficult time securing legislative approval to fund her ambitious designs, given that the coalition that nominated her is a political chimera. Her fellow travelers include the Catholic businesspeople of the PAN, the rickety remnants of the PRI, and the hollowed-out shell of the PRD. These parties dominated Mexican politics as rivals for the first eighteen years after the end of one-party rule. But AMLO’s landslide victory in 2018 weakened them to such a degree that they were forced to form an unholy alliance. The result is a negative image of Sheinbaum’s predicament: Gálvez must appeal to voters who have little in common save their rejection of López Obrador. 

The tendency of Mexican politics to bring together strange bedfellows can also be discerned in the smaller organization that has fielded a third presidential candidate: the Citizens’ Movement. In an earlier incarnation, the MC was part of the leftist coalition that nominated AMLO to the presidency in 2006. Today its most successful politicians are best described as centrists, among them Enrique Alfaro, the governor of Jalisco, and Samuel García, the governor of Nuevo León. But the movement’s presidential nominee, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, insists that the MC represents the only social-democratic option in the current election. 

It’s true that a number of exciting young leftists are running under the organization’s bright-orange banner. One who stands out is Valeria López Luévanos, a twenty-eight-year-old former councilwoman from Matamoros, in the northern state of Coahuila, who has told me that she left Morena after concluding that the party had betrayed its ideals. Still, the twists of Álvarez Maynez’s own career illustrate his movement’s ideological flexibility: the son of a founding member of the Communist Party of Mexico, at nineteen he was elected to the city council in Zacatecas on the PRD’s ticket; at twenty-five he won a seat in that state’s legislature under a coalition that included the PRI; at twenty-seven he switched his affiliation again to compete for Congress with the MC. 

The Citizen’s Movement has been described as a “franchising party” whose local branches differ from one another despite sharing the same name. In Jalisco, one of two states where the MC is dominant, the party is widely seen as the personal fiefdom of Governor Alfaro, a career politician who has violently repressed protests. In Nuevo León, the MC looks more like Governor García: a brash, pro-business thirtysomething from an elite background who has at different points declared his support for reproductive rights and asked the Supreme Court to rule that life begins at conception. In Mexico City, MC Congresswoman Patricia Mercado, a feminist who once ran for president, is perhaps the politician with the best socialist bonafides in Mexico. 

But this geographic diversity comes at a cost. For all its strength in certain pockets of the country, the Movement is unlikely to make a strong showing in the national election: most polls record that between 2 and 5 percent of voters are leaning toward Álvarez Máynez. It would seem that the “franchising party,” like Culver’s and Waffle House, is very much a regional chain. 

Today some members of the opposition worry that AMLO is attempting to restore the old regime, with Morena in place of the PRI. Their fears are rooted in López Obrador’s hostility toward the institutions that allowed for his own rise to the presidency, above all the INE, which he tried to disempower three times using constitutional amendments. The first attempt died in Congress; the second was struck down by the Supreme Court; the third is currently under legislative consideration but is unlikely to pass. One gets the sense that AMLO believes that free elections are desirable in theory but that a benevolent party needs to protect the popular will until the rotten elites he accuses of stealing his victory in 2006 are neutralized. 

AMLO’s hostility to electoral fairness takes concrete form in the sort of chicanery that Nixon might have described as “ratfucking.” Campaign advertisements, for example, are forbidden by law until twelve weeks before the election takes place, in this case on June 2. Long before the start of this period, however,  fences around the country  were hand-painted with a surprisingly uniform design: the outline of Sheinbaum’s face and the hashtag #EsClaudia. In a display of cynicism that reminded many of the PRI, Morena claimed that the banners were the spontaneous work of citizens. 

Elected officials and public servants affiliated with Morena have reportedly forced their subordinates to donate as much as 10 percent of their wages to fund party campaigns. Morenista apparatchiks have also instructed state employees to attend demonstrations in support of AMLO—a practice known as  acarreo , or herding. Theoretically neutral state-owned media, such as the TV stations Canal 11 and Canal 22, do not hide their support for Sheinbaum. Private media operations that receive large amounts of government money—such as  La Jornada , a daily newspaper in Mexico City, and  El Chamuco , a magazine edited by a group of cartoonists who are personal friends of the president—breathlessly praise AMLO while relentlessly attacking the opposition. All of this has made for what some commentators call  la cancha dispareja : an uneven playing field. 

Ronaldo Schemidt /AFP/Getty Image

Claudia Sheinbaum and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at an event celebrating the first anniversary of his presidential victory, Mexico City, July 1, 2019

Morena’s insistence on bending the rules can seem perplexing. It’s not clear that the party needs to cheat in order to win. Some members of the opposition suspect AMLO has concluded that, even if Sheinbaum could prevail while adhering to the INE’s rules, it’s safer to defang unelected electoral bureaucrats, lest the “conservatives” and “putschists” within their ranks succumb to their well-known tendency to defraud the people’s candidates. In other words, they see the president as suffering from a form of paranoia. “It would seem that AMLO doesn’t need all these dirty tricks to secure a victory for his party,” Carlos Loret de Mola, a prominent journalist who is widely seen as part of the opposition, wrote in the  Washington Post  in 2023. “It’s illogical for him to preemptively taint a much-predicted victory.”

López Obrador’s efforts to undo the legacy of the Democratic Transition are deeply concerning. But by fixating on his animosity against electoral institutions, the opposition risks distracting public attention from the crisis that, to my mind, poses the most serious   threat to Mexican democracy: the wave of violence that has gripped the country since Calderón’s term. 

Mexico has contended with powerful criminal organizations since at least the early twentieth century, but their central place in national life is a recent phenomenon. The old PRI made informal agreements with interest groups, including organized crime. Every now and then the regime cracked down on drug traffickers to please its American allies, but for the most part it turned a blind eye and allowed the mafias to move their wares to lucrative markets in the US. In return it expected kickbacks—but also that criminal organizations refrain from attacking civilians. 

This system was dismantled during the Democratic Transition. The situation began to deteriorate rapidly under Calderón, whose military offensive against the cartels was widely seen as an attempt to legitimate his disputed electoral victory over AMLO. The conflict that ensued didn’t just pit the state against criminal organizations, it pitted the different organizations against one another in a civil war that has so far claimed nearly over 360,000 lives. Between 2007 and 2023, the murder rate skyrocketed from 8.1 to 25 killings per 100,000 people. 

Calderón’s offensive forced criminal actors to antagonize the government in the open. They soon decided to displace or at least capture the state apparatus. The line between the Mexican government and mafias had long been blurry, with cartels bribing public servants from rank-and-file cops all the way up to cabinet secretaries . In recent years, however, criminal organizations have sought to exert control over the territories where they operate by meddling in elections. Sometimes these attempts at cooptation take the form of illegal campaign financing. At others the mafias simply execute candidates who might threaten their interests. One hundred and thirty-two politicians were killed during the 2018 election, and another 102 in 2021. In the first two months of 2024,  at least thirty-three politicians have been murdered—a number that is certain to increase.

Today, there’s virtually no figure in Mexican politics who hasn’t been tainted by accusations of improper dealings with the cartels. As ProPublica and The New York Times  recently reported, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration—an agency that many in Mexico distrust—investigated allegations that a number of cartels contributed millions of dollars to López Obrador’s presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2018. The journalists’ DEA sources claimed that they had shelved the case, which did not lead to any charges, to avoid the impression that America was meddling in an ally’s internal affairs. López Obrador, who denies all allegations, responded that the news reports themselves constituted such meddling. He also read the cell phone number of one of the two  Times reporters, Natalie Kitroeff, out loud during his daily press conference. His decision to doxx the correspondent is not only shameful but dangerous: Mexico is one of the deadliest countries in the world to be a reporter. In 2022 eleven journalists were killed on the job.

In these circumstances, the most concerning aspect of the presidential campaign may well be that the candidates have put forward inadequate proposals to address organized crime. Sheinbaum proposes establishing outreach programs to keep young people from joining criminal organizations (AMLO tried something similar with an apprenticeship scheme that never took off), amending the Constitution so that Supreme Court justices and other judges are elected by the popular vote (an AMLO initiative that is somehow meant to end corruption in the judiciary), and expanding the National Guard (the militarized law enforcement force that AMLO set up after disbanding the civilian Federal Police). 

Gálvez has echoed Calderón, saying that she would unleash “the full force of the state” against organized crime by, among other things, building a new maximum-security jail reminiscent of the house of horrors that is now the crown jewel of Nayib Bukele’s prison system, where he has imprisoned 2 percent of El Salvador’s population. Álvarez Maynez advocates regulating drugs instead of prohibiting them, professionalizing civilian law enforcement, and promoting alternatives to criminal justice—sensible policies that are unlikely to rein in organizations whose firepower and revenue exceed those of many small nations. 

June 2 will be a landmark day for Mexico: for the first time, a woman will be elected president. But the date will also be historic for marking the fourth and last time that Mexicans cast a vote for or against López Obrador in a presidential race. While his name won’t appear on the ballot, the election is about him more than about Álvarez-Máynez, Gálvez, and even Sheinbaum—it is a referendum on his legacy. 

And what is that legacy? At the level of material reality, Mexico remains for the most part the same country that it was in 2018. By some measures (labor rights, the minimum wage), it is slightly better off; by many others (violence, democratic integrity), things have gotten much worse. But, as psychoanalysts know and game theorists pretend not to know, people rarely make consequential choices on the basis of a rational assessment of the facts at hand. Come June, barring some drastic and unexpected event, a president who betrayed his promises will hand power to a chosen successor from his party. 

Then again, there’s one sense in which López Obrador has, in fact, transformed Mexico. He rose to power on the masses’ rejection of the regimes of the Democratic Transition, which were controlled by neoliberal economists and law-and-order reactionaries and kleptocrats in well-cut suits. Now there’s no going back. After López Obrador, even the right wing has found it necessary to nominate a woman. 

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Nicolás Medina Mora is a senior editor at nexos , a monthly magazine of culture and politics published in Mexico City. His first novel, América del Norte , is forthcoming from Soho Press in May.

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6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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Our recommended books this week include two satirical novels — one about identity politics and victimization, the other about artificial intelligence and gender roles — along with Tana French’s second crime novel about a Chicago police officer who retired to the Irish countryside. In nonfiction, we recommend the story of a deadly avalanche, a philosopher’s exploration of the concept of giving up, and the gratifyingly intimate audio version of Barbra Streisand’s recent memoir, which she narrates herself. Happy listening, and happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

MY NAME IS BARBRA Barbra Streisand

Certain of the, shall we say, eccentricities (oh … the ellipses!) in Streisand’s 992-page doorstop of a memoir get wonderfully ironed out in audio form. Its sprawling a-star-is-born anecdotes seem to find their natural form in the towering performer’s 48-plus hours of discursive, disarming and often gloriously off-the-cuff narration.

“As Streisand recites the story of her life … she ad-libs off the written text, splices sentences, audibly shakes her head at dubious decisions, and altogether places us opposite her on the sofa with a cup of coffee for a two-day kibitz.”

From Zachary Woolfe’s review

Penguin Audio | 48 hours, 17 minutes

VICTIM Andrew Boryga

Boryga’s debut is a lively social satire about the fetishization of victimhood, following a young working-class student, Javi, who uses exaggerated stories of tragedy to earn attention and success. Boryga is having fun, and he’s inviting us to join in.

“Let’s be clear: Though Boryga is playing, he’s not playing around. Through Javi’s story, Boryga humorously and scathingly calls out the gluttonous consumption of stories of victimhood.”

From Mateo Askaripour’s review

Doubleday | $27

ANNIE BOT Sierra Greer

On the surface, “Annie Bot” is a story about an A.I. sex robot that grows more and more sentient, but underneath this high-tech premise is a sharp and smart exploration of misogyny, toxic masculinity, selfhood and self-determination.

“A brilliant pas de deux, grappling with ideas of freedom and identity while depicting a perverse relationship in painful detail.”

From Lydia Kiesling’s review

Mariner | $28

ON GIVING UP Adam Phillips

In his latest book, Phillips’s exploration of “giving up” covers the vast territory between hope and despair. We can give up smoking, sugar or a bad habit; but we can also give up on ourselves. Phillips proposes curiosity and improvisation as antidotes to absolute certainty.

“Phillips doesn’t try to prevent us from thinking whatever it is that we want to think; what he does is repeatedly coax us to ask if that’s what we really believe, and how we can be sure.”

From Jennifer Szalai’s review

Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $26

THE DARKEST WHITE: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him Eric Blehm

In January 2003, seven skiers and snowboarders were killed in an avalanche on a glacier in western Canada. Among them was the American snowboarder Craig Kelly, and the adventure writer Blehm turns this page-turner not just into a biography of the athlete, but a tribute to the sport itself: addictive, thrilling — sometimes deadly.

“Probably the most unremittingly exciting book of nonfiction I have come across in years. I found myself reading late into recent nights wholly transfixed by every paragraph, every word.”

From Simon Winchester’s review

Harper | $32

THE HUNTER Tana French

For Tana French fans, every one of the thriller writer’s twisty, ingenious books is an event. This one, a sequel to “The Searcher,” once again sees the retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, a perennial outsider in the Irish west-country hamlet of Ardnakelty, caught up in the crimes — seen and unseen — that eat at the seemingly picturesque village.

“The novel’s greatest pleasures — genuine twists aside — reside in the specific intersection of outsider and native, and particularly the former’s determined need to idealize, to claim, to tint whole rivers green.”

From Sadie Stein’s review

Viking | $32

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